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Acts 9 Grace Bible Church San Diego

We are:

A Mid Acts 9 Dispensational Bible Study Church -- Pastor John Verstegen and his faithful men from Berean Bible Ministries in San Juan Capistrano (helpersofyourjoy.com) conduct a weekly Bible study Saturday mornings 9:30 to 11:30 am in the Manley home at 3876 Cody Street, San Diego, CA 92117, phone 858-273-2049. Everyone is welcome to join. What is God’s will today? “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4).

What must I do to be saved?
Believe “how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3, 4).

What is the knowledge of the truth?

That God the Father has given the Lord Jesus Christ two ministries: one on the earth and one in heaven.

We are living in a giant parenthesis in between two appearances of Jesus Christ which were both un-prophesied. First, His appearing to Saul of Tarsus (Paul) on the road to Damascus in Acts 9, and next His soon appearing in the air to rapture the true Church, the body of Christ. The rapture was a mystery only revealed to us through Paul (1 Cor. 15:51,52; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17).

We are living at a time called the dispensation of the grace of God (Eph. 3:2, 1 Cor. 9:17; Col. 1:23-25). God is forming the body of Christ. Saved members of this group will live in heaven, while everyone else in the Bible will live on earth. The Bible is laid out: Prophecy-Mystery-Prophecy. The doctrine or teaching of the Mystery is found in Romans to Philemon.

Then, the books of Hebrews to Revelation will help the Hebrews and others to make it through the Tribulation (Jacob’s trouble, Jer. 30:7) and to have eternal life in the kingdom on earth.

Eventually, God will have two different groups of believers, in two different places. After God is finished with this, His plan is: “in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in heaven in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him” (Eph. 1:10).

This heaven and earth will all pass away, and God will make a new one. People will have eternal life in one place or the other. This is why we are helping people to understand what God is doing as fast as we can. The rapture will happen soon and we want as many people saved into the body of Christ as possible. We also want as many people as possible to know what God is doing so they can be useful sons and daughters doing His will. The only thing we can take with us is the doctrine that is stored up in our inner man.

We believe:

To understand the Bible it is necessary to divide between "Mystery" and "Prophecy." Today anyone who believes the gospel (1 Cor. 15:3, 4) becomes part of the Body of Christ, not Israel.

The Body of Christ is separate and distinct from Israel. Israel is promised the kingdom on earth, while the Body of Christ will live "eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1).

Israel rejected God’s renewed offer of salvation with the stoning of Stephen: “through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:11).

The cross, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest event in history! But not until Paul's letters is it clear that He did not only come to redeem His people Israel, but all of mankind. "Who gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:4).

Christianity is not a religion, but a personal relationship with the risen Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

The Lord Jesus Christ dramatically appeared to Saul of Tarsus, saving him and making him Paul

Rightly Dividing

The Mystery is the formation of the Body of Christ in the dispensation of the grace of God (the parenthetical amnesty period in which we now live). As recorded in Romans to Philemon, the thirteen letters written by our Apostle Paul. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the new agency, the Body of Christ with which He plans to reclaim and populate the heavenly places.

We are living in the "But Now" in the dispensation of the grace of God. God has eternity in store for us in the heavenly places.

There is nothing more valuable than to study God's holy word "rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

2nd Timothy 2:15 - KJV

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

The King James Version of the Bible

Also known as the Authorized version

The King James Bible is the pure, inspired, preserved word of God, and the final authority in all matters of faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16).

The key to understanding the Bible is to “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). To divide the word of truth is to recognize the clear divisions that God put in His word. All the Bible is truth; we are to divide truth from truth. All scripture is “for us,” but not all scripture is “to” or “about us.” The main division in the word of God is between “prophecy” and “mystery.” That which belongs to the prophetic earthly kingdom of Israel "spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:21) from the "revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began" (Romans 16:25).

In His earthly ministry Jesus Christ “came unto his own [Israel], and his own received him not” (John 1:11). After the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ gave the nation of Israel a one-year extension of mercy (Luke 13:6-9). But once again they did not believe and demonstrated their rejection of the Holy Ghost by stoning Stephen (Acts 7:51-60). Only a small remnant believed, Peter and the little flock (Luke 12:32), and was promised the kingdom (Matt. 21:43). Israel as a nation fell temporarily (Rom. 11:11, 12), and God postponed the prophesied millennial kingdom on Earth and inserted the dispensation of Grace and is forming the true Church, the Body of Christ.

In Acts 9, Christ began His heavenly ministry. Christ dramatically did something that was un-prophesied, He saved Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, making him Paul the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13). The Lord Jesus made Paul the “pattern” and spokesman for the body of Christ to follow in this dispensation of grace (1 Cor. 4:16-17, 11:1; Eph. 3:1-4; Phil. 4:9; 1 Tim. 1:12-16).

Paul received the “mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God” (Eph. 3:9). God had kept His plan to call out a body of believers to inhabit the heavenly realm a secret (1 Cor. 2:6-8; Col. 1:23-29). Although all of the Bible is profitable for our learning, the body of doctrine for the Church, the Body of Christ, is found in Paul's thirteen letters: Romans to Philemon.

God plans is to populate both the Heaven and the Earth with people who will love, worship, and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ forever (Eph. 1:10). Christ has given the Body of Christ the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20) in this dispensation of Grace.

After the Church is raptured the Lord Jesus Christ will again resume His dealings with Israel and set up His kingdom on Earth (Matt. 24:31, Rom. 11:26).

Please join our informal Bible study to find out “For what saith the scripture?” (Rom. 4:3). Everyone is most welcome.